New adjuvants on horizon for influenza vaccines

Several influenza vaccine adjuvants that have been used in Europe for many years may be incorporated into US vaccines soon, according to a presenter here at the IDSA 49th Annual Meeting.

Martin Friede, PhD, who heads the Technology Transfer Team within the Department on Innovation, Information, Evidence and Research at the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland, spoke about influenza vaccine adjuvants.

Adjuvants are added to vaccines to improve the immune response. They are known to increase antibody titers; reduce antigen dose (dose sparing for a pandemic); reduce the number of doses needed because they provide more rapid protection; enable immunization in patients with weakened immune systems; provide appropriate bias; and induce cell-mediated immunity, according to Friede.

“They are a critical enabling component for subunit/recombinant vaccines,” he said.